Sample Sources
The sources below are those contained in our three curated collections—covering themes of Passover, Gender Roles, and Holocaust Resistance. They represent a fraction of the thousands of sources that will be available when the full site launches in 2024.
Samuel and the Destruction of Caesarea Mazaca
They said to Samuel, “Shapur the king killed twelve thousand Jews in Caesarea Mazaca.” And he did not rend [his garments. . . .]
And did Shapur kill the Jews? Behold, Shapur the king said to Samuel,…
King Yannai’s Advice to His Wife Shelamzion
King Yannai said to his wife [before he died]: Do not be afraid of the Pharisees, and neither [should you fear] from those who are not Pharisees [i.e., the Sadducees]; rather, [beware] of the…
A Clash between Judah the Prince and Resh Lakish
Resh Lakish said: The patriarch who sins, we lash him in a court of three [judges]. [ . . . ] R. Judah the Prince heard and grew angry. He sent a soldier to catch Resh Lakish. They tried to catch him…
Pharisees and Ritual Purity
The garments of an ‘am ha’arets [a common person] possess midras-impurity for Pharisees.
The garments of Pharisees possess midras-impurity for those who eat terumah [gifts for the priests].
The…
Pesher Psalms
[ . . . ] [ . . . He will make your justice come out like the dawn and your rights like mi]dday (Psalm 37:6). [Its interpretation concerns the congregation of the poor who are ready to…
John’s Birth and Naming
In the days of King Herod of Judaea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. Both of them…
David and the Sabbath
At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. When the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look…
The Gerousia Sends Representatives to Antiochus IV Epiphanes
When the king came to Tyre, three men sent by the senate [gerousia] presented the case before him.
Translation from the New Revised Standard Version.
Selling a Slave outside the Land of Israel
The sages taught (t. Avodah Zarah 3:18): [With regard to] one who sells his slave to [a Jew] outside of Erets [Yisrael, the slave] is emancipated, but [he nevertheless] requires a bill of manumission…
Twenty-Two Books
And this is naturally done, or rather by necessity, given that not everyone is permitted to become a writer of his own accord; nor is there any disagreement as to what has been written. But only the…
Rescuing Sacred Writings
All sacred writings may be saved from a fire, whether we read from them or not [on the Sabbath]. And even if they are written in any language, they must be stored. And why do we not…
Jesus Travels to the Temple
When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord,…